At a regular Business License Commission meeting on Tuesday, June 6, 2023, a motion made by Commissioner Danny Hang and seconded by Commissioner Elyse Eisenberg, moved forward with the approval to grant Heart WeHo, locate at 8911 Santa Monica Blvd, an Extended Hour Business License to extend their weekend hours until 4 a.m. The vote was unanimous in favor of the extension.
The Commission conducted a public hearing to consider the application for an Extended Hour Business License on March 7, 2023. There were public comments both in favor and against the application at the hearing, as well as public comments submitted online prior to the hearing. The Commission deliberated on the matter, and a motion to approve the application resulted in a tie vote. The Commission then unanimously voted to re-hear the matter, with instruction to staff to obtain additional data, including relevant crime statistics which were presented by Staff at the meeting.
Heart WeHo has been operating with extended hours until 4:00 a.m. on Saturdays and Sundays pursuant to Special Events Permits (the same hours requested via this application) since November 2022. According to the Staff Report, the City has not received any noise complaints from any of the Special Event Permits issued to the business,
During the March 7, 2023 meeting, the Commission directed City staff to obtain a breakdown of calls for service from the West Hollywood Sheriff’s Station from January 2022 to November 2022 and November 2022 to present for Heart WeHo. The Commission also requested calls for service between 2:00 a.m. and 4:00 a.m. be separated from the total number of calls for service at the business and to include a comparison of calls for service to Micky’s, located at 8857 Santa Monica Boulevard, which currently operates with an Extended
Hour Business License unit 4:00 a.m. on Saturdays and Sundays.
The report indicates that from January 2, 2022, to May 14, 2023, Heart WeHo received a total of 109 calls for service. A report on the same date range was received for Micky’s, and the query resulted in 268 calls for service. The highest percentage of calls for service were for pickpocket thefts at both Heart WeHo (44%) and Micky’s (57%) from January 2, 2022, through November 18, 2022. Similarly, the highest percentage of calls for service for both businesses was also pickpocket theft from November 19, 2022, through May 14,
2023.
Paul Nichols, a club promoter representing Heart WeHo, made the case the extended hours would offer a cool down session for people to sober up, it would keep the crowd inside the club instead of outside on the sidewalk, and it would allow easier access to car services after the rush when the rest of the bars close at 2 a.m.
Staff recommended the Extended Hour Business License with some conditions to ensure a safe operation. The City would require a review of the extended hours business license in six months to assess calls for service and public safety related impacts.
Commissioners Mark Farhad Yusupov and Catherine Eng asked for clarity regarding the assessment in six months. Yusupov wanted to know if the Commission could revoke the license in six months if there were issues.
Director of Community Safety, Danny Rivas clarified that the six-month check-in was for informational purposes and that the application for the extended hours would be for one year if approved that night. He did assure the Commission that if there were problems with the business at any time during the one-year period, that Staff would address those issues and would have the power to draft a new motion to correct or revoke the application.
The Commission seemed satisfied with the presentation by both staff and Heart WeHo, so the motion to move forward passed with a 6-0 vote.
No surprise. This city does NOT care about the residents that live here they just care about the people that come to party here and the $$$ it brings into the city.